Interstate 5 project latest in San Joaquin

STOCKTON - Believe it or not, there is another road construction project ramping up in San Joaquin County.

Zachary K. Johnson

STOCKTON - Believe it or not, there is another road construction project ramping up in San Joaquin County.

The $54 million Interstate 5 Rehabilitation Project in Stockton is the newest edition to the major construction projects underway along the major freeways crisscrossing San Joaquin County.

The project will replace existing roadways with smooth, long-lasting concrete between Dr. Martin Luther King and Country Club boulevards over the next two years. Along the way, drivers will see ramp closures lasting for as long as a month as well as some creative ways to divert traffic to give crews the space to work.

It started in May, but in a later phase, drivers will be diverted across the median into what might feel like driving into oncoming traffic.

Getting drivers used to that idea is one of the reasons why transportation officials held an open house for the project Wednesday night, said Chantel Miller, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation.

"Don't panic. It's OK; the K-rail is there," she said, referring to the concrete barriers separating the cars going in different directions. When the project reaches that phase, likely late next year, only two lanes of traffic will cross the median, while the outer lane will stay open. The work will happen in between.

But before that can happen, there will be extended ramp closures. Some onramps and offramps will close over a weekend, while other ramps will stay closed for monthlong stretches. Those closures won't start until this fall or next spring, depending on the weather, officials said.

The ramps that face monthlong closures are: the northbound Pershing Avenue onramp, both the northbound and southbound onramps at Monte Diablo and the southbound offramp at Monte Diablo.

This project is separate from the $122 million North Stockton Improvement Project to widen the freeway from Country Club Boulevard to Hammer Lane from six lanes to eight lanes. A new carpool lane will stretch the length of both projects, from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Hammer Lane.

About a dozen people showed up to the Wednesday night open house at the Stockton DMV office to talk or learn about the projects.

Some said more enforcement is needed in the double-fine area of the construction zone. "You can't go 55 or you will get run over," said Elaine Hicks of Stockton. But she said she's gotten used to living near the construction, by now, and it will be a good thing when the project is finished.

Pam and Bill Rapp have been watching the construction from their home on Swain Road, as they did when the freeway was first built. "I-5 has grown up," Pam Rapp said. "This is long overdue."

It will be great when it's done, but it's tough right now, said Steve Handel, who owns Neighborhood Cleaners, a dry-cleaning business that makes deliveries. "Time is money, and if I sit on the freeway ...," he said. Handel watches closely for each and every closure announcement, and he was at the meeting to prepare for the next changes.

"If you know ahead of time that they're coming, you can get around them."